The Zombie Apocalypse of Haruhi Suzumiya
by ichigoskullface
Summary: Oh my god Haruhi, zombies? KyonxYuki Chapter 8 up! you can expect a sequel soon!
1. Chapter 1

Hello and good day! I'm gonna get this out of the way first: This is not a crossover... so yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own Haruhi Suzumiya.

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It wasn't exactly rare for a general feeling of uneasiness to settle over me following one of our daily S.O.S. Brigade meetings. Quite the opposite, really. I can't recall a time in recent memory when I haven't been at least a little worried. After all, Haruhi is sitting on the button that can facilitate the world's destruction, and she doesn't even know it.

Or maybe she's the button, and I'm the unwitting fool who is about to stumble upon it? It seems like everyone would have me believe that anyway... Ugh... I don't know. This whole affair makes my head hurt.

Anyway, about that 'general feeling of uneasiness'. Today was no different. Except, today I wasn't just worried. I was _terrified_. I can only hope that my fears aren't justified.

Perhaps Nagato could set my mind at ease? I can see her down the hall a way from here...

"Hey! Nagato!"

She stopped and turned around, focusing her attention on me. Her expression was unreadable.

"Nagato... you don't think Haruhi would actually want something like that to happen, do you?"

She said nothing, and just stared at me for a few seconds before turning back around and continuing on her way home. She didn't need to say anything though. I could read her well enough to know what she thought.

Her eyes came about as close to "oh shit" as I have ever seen them.

_-flashback-_

Once again, Haruhi was late to our club meeting, and I resigned myself to playing a game of chess against Koizumi. Asahina-san was preparing some tea, and Nagato-san was burying herself in another one of her books. It looks like todays selection is... 'The Shining'. Stephen King... the name is familiar, but I'm not exactly well read.

When the door crashed open to reveal one of the schools T.V.s on one of those carts, I knew something was wrong- or rather, would be in a few minutes.

Haruhi wheeled the T.V. over by the wall nearest to me and picked up a DVD. I couldn't see the title, but I think Koizumi might have caught a glimpse of it, because I noticed his smile falter for a split second. That was not a good sign...

Haruhi faced everyone. She was positively beaming. That was an even worse sign.

"I had planned to challenge the soccer team to a game today, but since it's raining,(It is? Huh... I should pay attention to these things...) we are going to watch a movie instead!"

A movie? That can't be so bad. Which one, I wonder?

Asahina-san beat me to the question: "Umm... what movie?"

"Resident Evil!"

I wanted to cry. Poor Mikuru-chan beat me to that too.

_-end flashback-_

So, now Haruhi's head is filled with zombies. At least they're the slow ones. Mostly. I'm probably getting ahead of myself though. Couldn't I have misread Nagato's eyes? They probably didn't say 'oh shit', but 'you're an idiot'. That sounds reasonable, I think.

"Kyon. I think we have a problem."

Damn.

Koizumi had caught up to me and matched my pace.

"You know, you could have at least made a token effort to point out that zombies cannot possibly exist."

"And how would that help? You, Nagato, and Asahina should be impossible too."

"She believes that aliens, time-travelers and espers exist. It is very possible that she now believes in zombies too. I don't need to tell you how bad it would be if she did."

"It's probably not even a problem. It's just a movie, she wouldn't just believe something like that would she?"

"That may be so... but you know as well as I do that even a movie could give her ideas."

I know! Can't you just let me live in denial, Koizumi!?

"We can't afford to live in denial, Kyon. There is too much at stake."

Koizumi fell back and disappeared somewhere. Probably into a top secret helicopter or something, the bastard. Sometimes, I really hate that guy... He's right though...(damn it), nothing is too crazy for her.

After walking a short distance, I found myself staring down the Hated Enemy once again... At least it's easier going down, than going up. I'll just get home, do my homework (maybe) and turn in for the day. No more aliens, time-travelers and espers today, thank you!

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Mmmm...so comfortable...soft...not at all like whatever is prodding me in the side right now...wait... prodding me in the side?

Just ignore it. Go back to sleep. Whatever it is, it can't be good, so just play dead...

"Kyon. Your respiratory patterns indicate that you are not asleep."

I rolled over and opened my eyes. Naturally, it's Nagato. Who else could it possibly be?

"What is it Nagato...? It's too late for this..."

"You are incorrect. It is early, not late."

Hilarious. But of course, it wasn't a joke.

"Okay...what's wrong?"

"T-Virus."

Oh no, oh no oh no...

"...Come again?"

"T-Virus."

ohnoohnoohgod-

"How bad is it?"

"There are localized outbreaks in the United States. However, the media is regulating the flow of information in such a way that the effected areas are said to merely be under quarantine. It is only a matter of time until the infection spreads."

"And I suppose the Umbrella Corporation is behind it all?"

"Parasol."

How original, Haruhi.

"...So what do we do?"

"Haruhi Suzumiya must not find out about the outbreak. Also, we must find a way to convince her that the dead cannot rise again."

"...We have to convince her that there are no zombies. During the Zombie Apocalypse."

"That is correct."

"...Are you serious?"

She nodded.

Haha. I hate my life.

"Great...We can all discuss this before the S.O.S. meeting tommorow... We should at least have that long. We need to have a plan before the meeting."

"...Understood."

Closing my eyes once again, I tried to get back to sleep.

"Goodnight, Kyon."

Huh? Oh...Did she just...

"Goodnight, Nagato."

I don't know if she heard it, She was probably already gone. Whatever. I need to get to sleep anyway.

Man, this is going to suck...

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So, what did you think? Review please! I'll continue if I get decent response.


	2. Chapter 2

Edit: I made a change to the end of this chapter in order to make it more believable. I kind of thought that the whole 'hunting' thing wouldn't fly, especially with guns, but I wasn't expecting anyone to be... you know... a scholar in japanese law (I'm looking at you, anonim1979)... Seriously though, thanks for pointing that out. Nagato is still going to obtain firearms though. She's very resourceful... :)

Thanks for the positive response! I'm actually sort of suprised. This isn't my first fic, you see... But it's the first I've really pursued with any real interest. I think it's probably because I find it easy to get into Kyon's character. Well anyway, please continue reading! I look forward to the response.

Disclaimer: I do not own Haruhi Suzumiya

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"Wake up, Kyon!"

Wha-_umph_...!

Who could that be, I wonder?

"Kyon, Kyon, Kyoooon!"

And a good morning to _you_, sis...

"I'm up, I'm up...Do you think you can use something a little softer next time?"

"I used a pillow, Kyon!"

I focus my eyes on my sister. Seems like she isn't too terribly worried about zombies- oh _geez_- I'm gonna have to make sure she's safe too...

"Where's mom, sis?"

"Umm... She's downstairs."

She poked me in the head for emphasis.

"Get up lazy-head! You don't want to be late!"

There she goes. Silly girl...

At least mom's not out of town or anything. If she was, there wouldn't be much I can do. Not that I can do much right now, anyway. What are we going to do anyway? The first order of business would be to get Haruhi away from civilization I guess... On a boat? No... there would be no way to get food...

I'll bounce some ideas off of Nagato and Koizumi later... I'm too tired to think right now. I need breakfast...

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Closing the door to my house, I begin my lonely march up That Damn Hill, and head toward North High. At least this is good exercise... I don't need to worry about heart disease or anything for a while.

Back to the issue of what to do about this whole mess...Boats are no good...an underground bunker, maybe? No, that's out too. I doubt we could convince Haruhi that staying in a bomb shelter for a while would be interesting. We're going to have to disguise it as an S.O.S. Brigade activity of course... but what?

"Hey! Kyon!"

Ah, Taniguchi. So much for thinking. Heheh.

"Yo."

"Hey man, did you see the news?"

Damn. Did _Haruhi_ see the news?

"No. What's going on?"

"They're not coming right out and saying it... But it's finally happened." his face shifted into a serious expression, "The Zombie Apocalypse is here Kyon. I've been preparing my _whole life_ for this!"

Ah, so he knows. Best to play dumb though. If I didn't have insider knowledge on this little problem, I'd think he was an idiot. Well, actually...

"Zombies. That's stupid, Taniguchi."

"No it isn't Kyon! All the signs are there. The media is just trying to cover it up. Shouldn't you be more willing to accept this as part of Haruhi's crazy little club?"

"Don't remind me. Anyway, don't tell Haruhi about any of this madness."

_Please_ don't.

"I won't. Kunikida and I are going on a little camping trip. we may be gone for a while... You want to come?"

Bingo. Camping. I'll mention that the woods may be haunted or something... We can get away from civilization and be sort of safe as well...

"No thanks, Taniguchi. I've got my own plans."

"Alright... be safe, Kyon."

He sauntered off into the school. Probably going to look for some lucky young woman to be the Eve to his Adam in the wake of the apocalypse.

So that's one problem solved...sort of. Still need to get her to agree.

Continuing on into the school now... ah! It's Asahina-san! Such beauty should not be marred by this madness! I will protect you Asahina-san! And Tsuruya-san is here as well... I wonder if her family knows about the zombies yet...

"Oh, Kyon...did you hear the news?"

"Hey, Kyon! You're not going to get eaten by any zombies, are you, nyoro?"

Well. I guess that answers that.

"Yeah. Hey, Asahina-san, do you know if Haruhi has heard yet?"

"I don't know... Kyon... I'm scared...",

Oh, her eyes are welling up with tears! You're killing me Asahina-san!

"Don't worry about it... I'm gonna convince Haruhi to take the Brigade on a camping trip. It'll get us away from civilization...give us some time to figure out where we stand."

"Well it should be obvious where you stand, nyoro! I'd be megas-disappointed if you took the side of the zombies!"

She broke out into gales of laughter, turned around and ran down the hall toward class.

Wait a second... I wonder...

"Hey! Tsuruya-san!"

She turned back around and smiled widely at me. I walked the short distance over to her.

"Tsuruya-san. Could your family take in my mom and sister for a while? I really don't have anywhere safe for them..."

She nodded fervently, that same grin plastered to her face.

An image comes to mind of Tsuruya-san duel-wielding MP5's atop her home, mowing down the zombie hordes as they come in, laughing maniacally all the while.

"I'll make sure they're safe, nyoro."

I'm sure you will.

"Bye!"

Off she goes. In the blink of an eye, she's around the corner and gone from sight. I wonder what she's like on caffeine?

"Ummm, Kyon? How are we going to convince Suzumiya-san that there are no zombies?"

Good question Asahina-san. I really have no idea.

"I don't know. All I know is that our best bet is to go camping. If Haruhi finds out about the zombies... Our job becomes that much harder."

She nodded slightly.

"So... any word from your people about what this mess is doing to the future?"

She looked troubled for a second. So cute...

"That's classified."

Oh god, I love that so much...

"I thought so. If you see Nagato or Koizumi, tell them about my plan. I don't think we'll be able to find the time for us all to get together before the meeting, unless Haruhi shows up late."

"Okay Kyon... I trust your judgement. Bye!"

"Bye, Asahina-san."

Now... to class. The moment of truth. Does she know? Oh my god, I don't even know what we'd do if she does. That'd be our doomsday scenario, I think.

I can just imagine it...Haruhi finds out about the zombies... everyone would be undead by nightfall. Ugh, I doubt that you'd even need to be bitten to catch the virus...

Okay. My hand is on the knob. This is door number 1. There is a 50-50 chance that what lays beyond it is the end of the world. There is no door number 2.

Okay...twist...and...

"What's taking you so long, Kyon! Just open the door!"

Haruhi is behind me. Haha...

I find myself on the floor. Haruhi has already disappeared into the classroom.

Well... that was unexpected. I pick myself up and follow her in.

"What was that for!? You could have at least given me a second to open it!"

"I gave you _five,_ Kyon! Just what were you doing anyway? You looked like you were afraid of something...me perhaps?"

Yes.

"No...ugh...nevermind..."

I took my seat in front of her. Time for a little probing.

"So... how are you doing, Haruhi?"

By now she had calmed down and was back to normal. Or what passed for normal, at least.

"Fine. I'm bored though. There's nothing interesting going on right now. Not that you'd care if there _was_."

Yes! Perfect! She has no idea! Oh, whoops, can't let my relief show...

I just nodded and turned toward the front the class.

The rest of the school day passed uneventfully.

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At the end of classes, Haruhi pulled me along into the club room. I guess we weren't going to have time to talk after all... I don't think it matters anyway. I've got it more or less figured out...

Taking my normal seat, I let out a small sigh. Now... how to go about this... Haruhi is fooling around with the computer, Nagato-san is reading another book (_The Stand- Stephen King_), Asahina-san is making tea... Koizumi is looking right at me.

I meet his eyes. He nods slowly. I guess he got the message. Now... how do I bring up the subject...?

"Let's go camping."

Wha-? Nagato? I guess she got the message too...

Koizumi turns toward Haruhi, that fake smile fixed on his face.

"I think that sounds wonderful! Don't you agree, Asahina-san?"

Haruhi's eyes had brightened up, she turned her attention to Asahina-san.

"Umm... yes! That s-sounds like fun!"

Haruhi shot up out of her seat, grinning wildly.

"Yes! let's go camping! When small groups of friends go out into the woods, monsters or ghosts are bound to show up, right!? We can go get a tent and supplies from the Wilderness Club! Haha! This will be great! Kyon!"

I nodded dumbly.

"You are in charge of provisions! Go get the food and water!"

"There aren't going to be any monsters or ghosts, Haruhi..."

Zombies, maybe...

"Kyon!"

Whatever... why am I acting like this anyway? This was my idea, right?

"Fine, I'll go take care of that. We can set out tommorow morning. Tomorrow is Saturday, right?"

"Yep! We'll set out from here. Everyone meet up at the gate at 5:00 a.m tommorow! If you're late, it's the death penalty! Itsuki and Mikuru-chan come with me, we're gonna go hit the Wilderness Club! Dismissed!"

5:00 a.m. Great.

Everyone got up and went about their appointed tasks. I went went out into the hallway, heading over toward toward the exit.

Nagato came up from behind and matched my pace a few feet to the side without saying anything.

"What's up, Nagato?"

"I am accompanying you to the commercial district in order to ensure that you purchase all of our necessary provisions."

"Ah. Thanks for bringing up the idea of the camping trip to Haruhi. I was trying to figure out how to bring it up gracefully. Did Asahina-san or Koizumi tell you?"

She shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"Than... did you know that I was planning on a camping trip?"

"I had decided last night that a camping trip would be the best course of action. I assumed that you too would have come to the same conclusion."

Ah...so my idea wasn't so original after all. Well... I mean I stole it from Taniguchi but... ah, nevermind.

"So... what do you think we'll need other than food and water?"

"Anything capable of delivering a great deal of blunt force. Axes. Knives. Firearms."

"Won't Haruhi have questions? What do we tell her?"

"Wood."

"I see... but guns? What do we tell her those are for? How will we even go about getting them, anyway?"

"She will not find out. Getting them will not be an issue."

"We're going to hide them?"

"Yes."

"...Alright."

Guns. It's a good thing she knows shat she's doing...if she were anyone else, I'd call her crazy. I wonder if Taniguchi is this well prepared? But then again...no-one is as well prepared as Nagato. She's like a Boy-Scout. Or a Girl-Scout. Whatever.

We continued on our way in silence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

This one is almost twice as long as the first chapter... Took me the better part of a morning to write. But don't expect future chapters to come out as fast as this one. The only reason I was able to get this one out so quickly is because I had Chapters 1 and 2 more or less written in my mind when I set out on this little venture. You can probably expect Chapter 3 in a few days though.

Thanks for the reviews everybody! It does my heart good to see that somebody out there enjoys my writing. Don't be afraid to critique it though. No story is perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

You know what? I lied. I'm really just not very busy right now, so I can spend plenty of time writing. I'm just not even going to mention how long these chapters take anymore, because no matter what I say, it's either going to be way, way earlier, or way, way later.

Anyway, I made some changes to the end of chapter 2. If you haven't seen the changes yet, go ahead and do it now. Things in this chapter may seem a little odd if you are going by what was previously said at the end of chapter 2. I made the changes on the advice of Anonim1979 in order to make it more believable. My gut instinct was that something wasn't quite right about that section, and I think it's a bit better now. It just seems smoother, in my opinion.

Anyway, here is chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it!

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I'm really going to have to just say 'no' next time Haruhi tells me to treat everyone to lunch... I'm flat broke. I can't afford to buy anything at all, least of all these weapons that Nagato-san says we'll need...Maybe I should get a job like Taniguchi? Oh wait, I forgot. Society as we know it is on the brink of collapse. I don't think we'll have a very strong Yen in just a few days.

"I have all the funds that are required."

"How do you get your money anyway, Nagato?"

"I edit my debit account."

"_You hack the banks computers?"_

She says nothing and makes a move towards an ATM standing outside a nearby appliance store.

"That's illegal! Really illegal!"

She maintains her silence as she swipes her card and enters her pin number. After a few seconds, the machine is dispensing a great deal of money. It prints a transaction receipt, but she ignores it and starts down the street again.

Hmmm... I wonder what her balance is... I'll just take this ticket and...Huh. Not as much as I thought. In fact, it's pretty modest. I guess she only uses what is necessary...I know she probably understands the economy better than I do.

I wonder what we need cash for anyway...

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It seemed like she didn't know where she was going, but I knew better. Every few intersections we made a turn into a worse and worse part of town. At last, she turned into a back alley and stopped at an old rusty door.

I almost asked her what we were doing here, but I knew I'd find out in just a second.

She reached out and knocked on the door.

Silence.

This is kind of spooky...I feel like I'm being watched...

More silence.

"...Hey, Nagato? I don't think anyo-"

The door opened quickly, but it didn't slam. Before I could even finish my sentence, a large, solemn-looking man had pressed a rather large handgun into my forehead. It had a silencer.

Frozen, I looked up at his face. That scar running down his face made him look so very intimidating...

"State your business."

Without skipping a beat, Nagato came to my rescue.

"We are here to purchase firearms and ammunition."

"You're kidding, right? Get out of here, both of you!"

And then a voice came from inside the building: "It's okay, let them in."

The man hesitated before dropping the gun to his side. He said nothing and went back inside.

Oh my god, I was about to piss myself there... It seems like that's a recurring thing around Nagato...

Following Nagato inside we came into a small, dimly lit room. There were all kinds of guns lining the walls. Big, small, some I had never seen or heard of before. I noticed a box of grenades sitting in the corner.

The thug from before was nowhere to be seen. There was, however a moderately attractive middle-aged blonde woman sitting behind a counter.

"Hello there, Nagato. I suppose this is about Suzumiya and this...fantasy of hers?"

Ah. I see. An interface. Nagato has friends in the mob... Oh god, I am in way over my head...

"Yes. We have need of weaponry."

The woman raised her arms and gestured toward the walls.

"Take your pick. I can't give them to you free because I am only an employee of this organization I've been stationed with, but I could give you a discount if you find yourself coming up a little short."

Nagato nodded and went about examining the merchandise. The woman nodded at me and smiled.

Feeling uncomfortable, I leaned against a nearby wall (knocking over an RPG launcher in the process) and waited for Nagato to make her selections. In the end, she picked out a 45. revolver, a bolt-action rifle with a scope, (looks old. Maybe World War II era), an extremely unwieldy looking machine gun... the kind with a belt, that box of grenades I saw in the corner, and several boxes of ammunition. She laid it all in the center of the room and walked over to me and looked expectantly into my eyes.

Huh? Do I have something on my face?

"...What is it Nagato?"

"RPG."

Oh. The missile launcher I knocked over. I was blocking the way to it.

I nodded and picked it up (a bit lighter than I expected) and placed it with the rest of the stuff in the center of the room. Nagato came up behind me with a box of ammunition for it.

She handed the money to the woman and turned back around to face me again. That's when I thought of another problem...

"So, Nagato...what do you think will happen first? Do I collapse from carrying all of this stuff, or do I get beaten by the police?"

For a second I thought she'd say 'both', but she ended up spouting that high-speed gibberish, making all the guns and ammo dissappear into the air.

"Ah... I see. I guess that solves the problem about where to hide it too."

"Yes. Now we must go to the hardware store."

"Yeah, that's right. Classic zombie slaying weapons, right? Sledge-hammers, axes, and chainsaws?"

"I... had not thought of purchasing a chainsaw. That would, however, be consistent with the 'woodcutting' explanation."

"So, than... can we get one?"

I might have sounded a bit eager there. I assure you that I am not looking forward to fighting zombies. Well... I guess if we're zombie-slaying... we can at least do it in style.

"Yes."

"Can I have it?"

The woman behind the counter put her hand to her mouth to stifle a snicker.

Okay, so maybe I am a little exited about this. For once, maybe _I'll_ be the one protecting someone...

"Yes."

I nodded and made my way over to the door, holding it open for Nagato. She stepped through and started back on the path we came, with me following.

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When we got to the hardware store, we went straight for the gas-powered chainsaws. We ended up getting a fairly new model Husqvarna chainsaw (later, we would purchase two gallons of gas), a big, heavy sledgehammer, and a small, effiecient hatchet. You know, for cutting limbs. Tree limbs.

Taniguchi and Kunikida were there as well, and I wasn't surprised to find that their shopping list was very similar to our own, minus the chainsaw. Despite his job, Taniguchi's funds were a little limited, so while he wanted one, (he was not at all abashed about calling it a 'zombie deterrent') he simply could not afford it. Kunikida looked positively exasperated. He obviously did not share Taniguchi's enthusiasm, or belief, in the art of zombie massacre.

They were on the way out tonight, apparently. Taniguchi didn't want to waste any time. He apparently read, (I know, I'm surprised too) a book which suggested fleeing civilization at the first sign of the Zombie Apocalypse.

After he made another crack about Nagato and I, (I swear to God, she has chronic anemia) we said our goodbyes and went to the grocery store to pick up some food. We got mostly non-perishables, and a few gallons of water. I almost forgot a lighter. I need to be careful about these things. After all, I'd like to avoid coming back into town, if at all possible.

Nagato and I parted ways at an intersection that would take us both to our respective homes. The walk was hard. Not because of the distance, but because I was hefting all that equipment and food that we bought for our little camping trip.

Luckily, when I got home, Mom and Sis were busy in the kitchen, so I was able to go up to my room without question. I set everything aside, taking special care to hide the chainsaw, hatchet, and sledgehammer from view. Shortly afterward, Sis called me down for dinner.

"So Kyon, how are you? You were out for quite a while today."

Mom was concerned. I guess she should be. My excuse is that I was buying weapons for impending zombie doom.

"I was out...shopping...with some friends."

"Taniguchi and Kunikida?"

"Well, I saw them around."

My sister chimed in: "It was probably Haruhi-chan!"

Oh great. Thanks sis.

"Oh, Kyon... do you have a girlfriend?"

"No. And it wasn't Haruhi anyway. It was Nagato."

Again, sis decided to make me even more uncomfortable: "Oooo, Yuki-chan! I like her!"

Mom gave me a weird look, (probably wondering who would bear her grandchildren or whatever).

I shake it off and say what needs to be said.

"Mom, sis... I have something very important to say."

Sis giggled, Mom continued to give me that funny look. I continued.

"I'm serious. Mom, have you been watching the news lately?"

"Well... yes. There has been something about a strange new epidemic, I didn't quite hear all of it. Is that what you are talking about?"

"Yeah. Mom, trust me on this: It is extremely dangerous. I...well... I've got a friend, you see... who has agreed to take you two in and keep you safe."

Mom looked worried, and sis looked like she thought I had gone crazy. Maybe I had.

"Kyon... keep us safe from what? And why won't you be with us?"

"I uh...I can't explain. Please mom, go to the Tsuruya estate as early as you can tomorrow. They will explain the situation. As for me, I have...plans already. Mom, please... I'm dead serious about this."

"I ...understand Kyon. But if this is a joke... I'm going to be very disappointed in you. I'll go, and at least find out what this is about...but...please, come with us Kyon..."

"I'm sorry mom, I can't... I need to go to bed now. I'm getting up early to do something. Mom... Be safe."

Sis looked very confused, but ended up just eating her meal. I got up, patted sis on the head, and hugged mom. I left the room without even touching my meal.

That was much harder than I thought... It felt like I was telling her I was going off to war, and that I may not return...

After setting my alarm, I settled into bed and one of the most restless nights of my life.

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When the alarm rang at 4:00 A.M, I found it difficult to drag myself out of bed. Not just because of my tiredness, but also because I really wasn't looking forward to what lies ahead. What little interest I had yesterday was gone, replaced with a sort of exhausted acceptance.

I got all the stuff Nagato and I bought yesterday and put it on a small cart and started heading up that Damn Hill. I discovered shortly that it's a lot worse when you are hauling 50-60 lbs of zombie slaying equipment in a cart.

I wonder what time it is? My watch says... 5:02. I guess its the death penalty for me... Oh well. Ah there's the gate. Everyone beat me, it seems...

"Kyon! You're late! Penalty!"

She continued on with her rant, clearly unaffected by the early hour. As I approached her toting the cart, a feeling of dread washed over me. Not from whatever insane penalty Haruhi would no doubt devise for me, but for another reason altogether.

Behind Haruhi, about the distance of our schools soccer field from where we were standing, an overweight man came stumbling out of a dark alley. Illuminated by the street light, I could see that his skin had turned a grayish color and was covered in open sores. This man, was clearly not very healthy.

Only it wasn't a man: not anymore, and I knew it.

Koizumi's smile was noticeably strained, but it didn't seem like Asahina-san had noticed it yet. She was smiling brightly at me. Nagato was standing off to Haruhi's right side, her book dropped down to her side, eyes fixed on mine.

Haruhi hadn't stopped yet: That's good. Maybe we can solve this problem before she notices. I wheeled the cart up to Haruhi's right side and let it roll a little bit, so that it was a little behind Haruhi. She didn't pay attention to it, she was too focused on me. I never thought I'd think that and feel so relieved...

Nagato immediately grabbed the sledgehammer and teleported over to where the zombie was. Asahina-san looked startled for a second before looking around and seeing where she had reappeared. Seeing the zombie, she let out a (cute) startled "eep!" before Koizumi stealthily covered her mouth. His eyes locked with mine. He didn't speak, but I knew what he was thinking: "You should have talked to her the day we watched the movie."

Bastard.

He let go of Asahina-san who turned and stared transfixed at the scene taking place.

Hefting the hammer with both hands, Nagato swung the hammer in half circles, testing it's weight. The zombie advanced slowly: far too slowly to be a real threat.

She swung once, the iron head of the hammer connecting with a solid thud in the middle of the zombie's sternum. It's chest caved in, blood and bone spraying in all directions. It fell to the ground, struggling a bit before Nagato stomped on it's head, crushing it's skull and scrambling it's decayed brains.

Woah. Brutal. Note to self: _Never_ pick a fight with Nagato.

Seemingly satisfied with the results, Nagato, splattered with gore, picked up the zombie and teleported somewhere to drop it off, and immediately teleported back behind Haruhi. I was relieved to see that she, and the hammer, were no longer splattered with blood. She carefully set the sledgehammer back on the cart, making no sound.

Haruhi wasn't done yet, so Koizumi interjected into her tirade: "So Kyon, what is all this stuff?"

Haruhi turned her attention to Koizumi, and then the cart with all the weapons and provisions on it.

"Woah, Kyon! What is all this stuff? ...Is that a chainsaw?"

Koizumi's eyes widened in surprise upon noticing the aforementioned chainsaw. Asahina-san was still staring wide-eyed at Nagato.

"Woodcutting", Nagato and I responded at the same time. We looked at each other.

"Whatever... Come on! Time to head out!"

I grabbed the handle on the cart and started to move down the street.

"Hey! Kyon! Weren't you paying attention at all!? Grab my backpack! And the tent! This is your punishment, Kyon!"

Ugh... More stuff...

I picked up the backpack and slung it over my shoulder and set the tent on the cart.

Satisfied, Haruhi turned back around and led the way.

I caught up with Nagato and looked at her questioningly.

I whispered: "Hey, Nagato... why did you use the sledgehammer anyway? Couldn't you have used your data manipulation abilities to take care of it?"

"I could have. But it would have been unnecessary. Using spatial migration was a risk on its own...anything else would have been too...flashy."

"I see. Either way... you looked kind of cool out there..."

"...Thank you."

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HAHAHAHAHA! Zombies!! Sledgehammers!!

I loved writing that particular scene. I've been starved for zombie-blood since the first chapter, and I'm thrilled to be getting into the meat of the story now. Tell me what you thought! Till next chapter, everybody! Thanks for reading!

Oh, wait... Here it comes-

_**OMAKE!**_

"How do you make your money anyway, Nagato?"

"I edit my debit account."

"_You hack the banks computers?_"

She says nothing and makes a move toward an ATM outside a nearby appliance store.

"Thats illegal! Really Illegal!"

She turned back around and looked me dead in the eyes.

"No snitchn' Kyon. You hear me?"

Wha-what...?

"Kyon. Look at me."

She reached her hand under her cardigan put it on the butt of a 9mm automatic tucked away in the hem of her skirt.

"I put snitches in ditches, Kyon. You ain't no snitch, are you?"

"N-no, Nagato-sama... I'm cool."

"You better be, Kyon. I don't play."

Geez... You think you know a girl...


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, I'd like to thank you all for the reviews! It's so wonderful to see that this is actually getting hits, and that people are actually enjoying it...

Anyway, here we go. Chapter 4.

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We passed the time it took to get to the edge of town by discussing what sort of things we would do once we set up camp... Well... It would be more accurate to say that Haruhi told us what we would do. The closest we came to discussion was when I interjected with a complaint here and there.

Apparently, as soon as the tent was up, we were going to go searching for Bigfoot. I guess it doesn't matter that it supposedly lives in the American northwest... In Haruhi's demented little world, it lives outside our town. And knowing what she's capable of... it probably does too.

I wonder if we'll run into it? Whatever. As long as it's not another one of those zombies. Speaking of which...

"Hey. Koizumi. Got any ideas about how to convince Haruhi that there aren't any zombies? We'll have a weekend at the most, assuming she doesn't get bored before then... As far as she is concerned, we have school next week."

He shook his head slowly, that stupid smile stuck to his face.

"No. The best I think you can do right now is to explain to her rationally why zombies can't exist. She holds your opinion very highly Kyon... if anyone can do it, than it is you."

"So, it's up to me again, right?...I need to charge for my services... Your organization wouldn't pay me for this, would they?"

"Haha, no I don't think they would."

_Cheap_ bastard...

"Well... what if 'Kyon Inc.' unionized and refused to work without pay?"

"Well... I don't think 'Kyon Inc.' is going to unionize... is it?"

"Well... it might..."

"Haha... good luck with that Kyon-kun."

_Cheap __smart-ass_ bastard...

Whatever... it's not like I really need the money. It would probably all go to stuff Haruhi forces me to buy anyway... I'll just have to take basking in Asahina-san's presence as payment...

"Hey, Asahina-san... are you feeling any better?"

She nodded her head sharply and gave me a smile.

"Y-yes... I was just startled. That zombie... I was still kind of hoping that it wasn't true..."

"...Yeah, I know what you mean. Seeing it was... I don't know. It hit home."

"At least Nagato-san is with us..."

"Well, yeah. I don't think fighting them is going to be much of a problem. But we don't have long... and I don't think that just talking to Haruhi is going to solve the problem..."

"No... it probably won't..."

"Asahina-san? Do you know what we're supposed to do?"

Here it comes. Classified.

"Well... I actually don't. My superiors are withholding the information from me. I...don't know what that means..."

"Ah...I guess that's something to think about than... how often do they keep things from you?"

Looking troubled, she said exactly what I expected, "That's... classified."

I bet... Really though, I wonder how well informed she is on a day to day basis... They probably don't want me to know, so I don't rely on her too much. Or too little. Hmm...

We didn't run into any more zombies on our way out. A good thing too... I don't think we can come up with a good excuse to go dispatch them... and that's assuming it didn't come out right in front of us.

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Once out of town, we found ourselves at the edge of the woods. By then, the sun had come up, and it cast it's light at a low angle through the branches. It hadn't risen enough yet to provide any real light once we were in the woods- as a result, it was no different from night. After walking in one direction for a bit, (Haruhi had a compass) we stopped in a small clearing- it was barely big enough to set up our tent, but it would do.

Speaking of the tent, I discovered that it was one of those big multi-chambered deals... one main room, with 3 sleeping bag sized rooms sprouting off of it's sides. We set our stuff inside by the entrance, carful not to block the way into the other rooms. Haruhi, Nagato-san, and Asahina-san all took one of the branch rooms as their own, leaving the main room to Koizumi and myself. After we were set up, Haruhi announced that were going to go search for Bigfoot. Except for one thing...

"Where's my camera!? We can't get proof unless we have it!"

Proof? We're trying to prove Bigfoot's existence now? And here, I thought we were just gonna go have fun with him...

"Kyon! Go back and get it!"

Woah. Ah, about that...

"Haruhi, I'm not going to walk back to your house to get your camera! It'll take hours!"

By now, Koizumi was giving me a pitying look. Asahina-san just smiled sadly at me.

"Go get it Kyon, I will not tolerate insubordination!"

"But-"

She un-zipped the tent and dragged me out, pointing in the direction we came from.

"Fetch!"

"Ugh...fine..."

Oh my God, why?

"I will accompany you."

It was Nagato. Of course... She's gone with me everywhere lately.

Haruhi shot Nagato an odd look. I'm not quite sure what it was. Koizumi's smile faltered for a second...he turned his head to me, clearly concerned with something...

Oh, are you serious...? Could it be closed space, now of all times?

"Ah...um...thanks Nagato. We'll get some wood while we are out."

Haruhi muttered something... I think it was 'I bet...'

"Whatever. Just don't take too long, Kyon. I want to go looking for Bigfoot before it gets too dark."

I nodded and went back inside to grab the chainsaw, axe, and sledgehammer.

"What are you going to need the hammer for, Kyon?"

"Well...uh..."

Once again, Nagato saved me: "Dead trees."

Haruhi looked unconvinced, but she just dismissed us without saying anything else. She zipped the tent flap back up and began discussing her plans with Koizumi and Asahina-san.

I glanced at Nagato and shrugged. She started moving and I followed her. I figured her sense of direction was better than mine.

"She's getting suspicious..."

"Yes."

"And there's a closed space somewhere..."

"...Yes."

I thought so. I wonder what it was this time...

"Suzumiya is suspicious, not only of our equipment...but of us. She suspects that we may have an ulterior motive for being together so much these last few days."

"Ah... I understand. I guess it would be easy to make that assumption. She couldn't be further from the truth, though..."

She turned toward me. I saw...something...in her eyes that I hadn't seen before... I can't really identify it. For a second, I thought she'd say something, but she remained silent.

I wonder what she's thinking right now anyway...

We continued on our way for a bit before Nagato got my attention.

"Kyon."

She stopped and spoke one of her incantations. On the ground in front of us were some of the guns we bought at the shop the other day.

She picked up the revolver and handed it to me, along with an ammo belt. I slung the belt around my shoulder and then stared, confused, at the revolver.

Err...how do I work this thing?

"Umm...Nag-"

"Pull back the hammer back, and then pull the trigger to fire. After you fire six rounds, flip the cylinder out and empty the casings. Replace the casings with rounds from your belt, and then close the cylinder again. If it doesn't fire, just try again. The cylinder will rotate past the dud."

I nodded dumbly, a little surprised that she cut me off like that...

"Are you mad at me?

"No."

"...Alright."

Uncertain, I holstered the gun in my pocket. Nagato picked up the machine gun and slung it across her back. She took the sledgehammer and the axe from me, holding one in each hand.

"Hey... Nagato. Is it really wise to be walking around town, armed as we are?"

"The population has been almost entirely infected."

"What! Already!? We were just there earlier this morning!"

"The process was already well underway last night- it had started taking hold yesterday afternoon. Now, there are only a few survivors."

"How could this have happened so quickly? It wasn't even this fast in the movie!"

"...It is probably Suzumiya's belief that in the event of the Zombie Apocalypse, there should be some survivors to combat the undead. The process was sped up in order to make sure that these survivors- namely us- have time to do so."

"Ah... And I suppose that it was not merely an accident that she left the camera... Even if she didn't realize it. It's just an excuse to get us to go back..."

"That is likely."

"It was a miracle that we didn't run into any more than that one this morning, if it was as progressed as you say it was..."

"Yes...it was fortunate."

We continued in silence until we reached the edge of town. The streets were empty... it was unsettling... I was half-expecting zombies to be pouring out the buildings in droves. I nervously tightened my hands on the chainsaws' grips.

I looked over a Nagato. She seemed positively unruffled by everything. Thats the way she always was. If it weren't for her... I would have been dead many times over. I felt compelled to say something...

"Hey...Nagato? Thank-you... Ever since all this nonsense with Haruhi started, you've been there for me...I'm glad to count you as a friend."

Nagato blinked several times, (a sure sign of surprise) before turning to face me. She nodded once.

"I...see. Thank you Kyon."

We stepped forward into the street, moving toward Haruhi's house in companionable silence.

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About 30 minutes later, we arrived at out destination. We had not seen anything out of the ordinary other than the eerie silence that seemed to permeate everything around us. Unsure about what do do, I knocked on Haruhi's door.

"It is vacant."

"Ah... I see."

I gripped the doorknob and twisted, but discovered it was locked.

Before I could say anything, Nagato spoke one of her incantations, unlocking the door. We entered into darkness.

I reached for the light switch, and found out that the power was out.

I'm not surprised... Assuming anybody that works at the power-plant is still alive, I wouldn't go into work today either.

Adjusting to the darkness, I, for once, led the way up the stairs. There were a few doors at the top. I chose the one nearest to the stairs.

The door creaked open silently. It was the bathroom... nothing out of the ordinary. I thought I saw the shower curtain move, but I decided it was my imagination. I closed the door again and chose the next one.

Huh... Nagato is staring at the bathroom door...

I opened the second door and looked around. The master bedroom. I doubt that even Haruhi could persuade her parents to let her take that.

The bathroom door started banging loudly.

Geez! What in the...

I heard it moaning... Oh man... I just had that door open too...

"Zombie."

Nagato was looking at me expectantly. What does she want _me_ to do about it?

Oh. Right.

I pulled out the .45 and took aim around where I thought the head would be behind the door.

Let's see... I'll just pull back the hammer... and alright...here goes nothing...

I pulled the trigger and a deafening bang assaulted my ears. The muzzle-flash briefly illuminated the room, accenting Nagato's impassive features. Splintered wood fragments sprayed back at me as the gun bucked sending a sharp pain up my arm and into my shoulder.

Woah! That was startling... They make it look so easy in the movies.

The moaning continued behind the door. I missed.

Great... Too bad Nagato couldn't teach me how to 'not suck'.

I slowly fired the other 5 rounds into the door, before I emptied the casings as Nagato had told me to do. I replaced the rounds and listened.

Nothing. I guess I got it. I looked over at Nagato for confirmation. She nodded.

Wait a second.

"Nagato... could that zombie have been...Haruhi's family...?"

"Unlikely. In the movie, all of the zombies were unknown. It is unlikely that we will run into anybody who we, or Haruhi, knows."

That explanation sounded sort of weak... I wonder if she was just trying to protect me...? I'll just take her word for it... I don't think I could handle it otherwise.

I need to find a way to fix this... Maybe we can still save all these people...

Nagato opened the third door into a much smaller bedroom. The window on the other side of the room cast a pale glow over everything. The bed was dressed with plain, white sheets. It seemed to be perfectly normal... Is this Haruhi's room?

"Camera."

Ah, there it is... I guess this is Haruhi's room. I never would have guessed...

I picked it up and put it in the pocket I wasn't using to holster my gun.

All of this garbage for a camera... You are truely outrageous, Haruhi...

The sound of rustling and tinkling metal issued somewhere from my right. Nagato had unslung the machine gun and was walking slowly toward the window.

That can't be good...

She opened the window and the sound of moaning could be heard issuing from the decayed throats of hundreds of zombies. Looking outside the window, I found myself staring into the face of horror.

Did I say hundreds before? I'm not so sure about that... Thousands maybe? Millions? Well, maybe not millions... I'll just settle for 'Too damn many'. I wonder if they were attracted by the gunshots?

I think I might have done something wrong in my past life... But surely this is a bit much...

Nagato spoke another one of her incantations. The RPG, the rifle, the grenades and all the ammunition appeared next to the window.

Nagato turned around and spoke seriously.

"Kyon. As you can see, we are in a situation. Go downstairs and wait by the front door."

She pointed at my chainsaw.

"When they get through, you will keep them confined at the door with the chainsaw. I will provide fire support from this window."

"Okay...why can't we just teleport away?"

She pointed at a house across the street.

Huh? What's special about... oh God...

Taniguchi and Kunikida were staring out of the window of the house across the street. I couldn't make out their expressions... But I was fairly certain that their faces would have probably been contorted in fear.

"We have to help them! What do we do, Nagato?"

"Fight. After their ranks have been thinned out some, we can move across the street and rescue your friends."

"I...Nagato...Yuki...Be safe."

"I will not come to harm, and neither will you. Regardless... your sentiments are accepted and appreciated. Be careful, Kyon."

I went downstairs and stood by the door. It was already rattling on it's hinges.

Alright... Here we go...

I pulled the cord on the chainsaw a few times, listening to the motor get closer and closer to ignition each time. When It finally started up, I heard an explosion from somewhere outside.

I guess Nagato is breaking out the grenades...

The hinge on the top of the door broke out of the wall.

"Okay you bastards... let's go."

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I almost continued on right here... but I figured it would be better to stop and save the massacre for chapter 5.

Please review! I love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Tell me what you hate and what you like...I'll listen.

Till next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Here it is! Chapter 5! And it's a monster, too! I'm going to make a small change to the description...

Here you go!

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The chainsaws' constant vibration was reassuring- It felt like... _power_. Despite this feeling, I couldn't help but wonder at how easily it would be able to slice through flesh...

Well... I guess it cuts wood easily enough...

Once again, the door was shaken by another blow. The hinge on the bottom held, but I heard a snap coming from the doorknob. The bolt had broken, apparently. I heard another explosion coming from outside. They were coming much more frequently now.

Wow... They're really strong. If they weren't zombies, I'd hazard a guess that they were using a battering ram...

I stood back and waited. Even if that hinge survives another blow, it won't matter. It'll just swing open now that the bolt is broken.

Finally, the door gave under the constant assault- it swung violently on it's remaining hinge before snapping off all-together, skidding on one corner for a moment before falling over on its side only a few feet in front of me. Coming right after it were four zombies that had put too much force into the blow, and were now crumpled in a heap around the door frame.

Oh my god... This is scary as hell... What if I get bitten? Would Nagato be able to neutralize the infection? I sure hope so...

The zombies were starting to get up. No time for thinking!

Aiming for the nearest ones' head, I thrust the chainsaw forward like a spear, squeezing the grip as I did.

It went through with startling ease- like a sharp knife through gelatin. A vile black fluid that was once blood sprayed in the direction of the spinning blade, outward into the throng, and backward toward me. Coated in slick, black gore, I took a step back to admire my handiwork.

The zombie was hunched over by the door frame, it's face cloven in two with a mixture of blood and some other yellowish substance pouring copiously onto the floor. It wasn't moving.

Huh. That was kind of satisfying... I wonder if Nagato feels the sam-

Another zombie lunged from the right. I side-stepped it, swinging the chainsaw backward in an arc, right into it's lower back. It cut cleanly through... or as cleanly as a chainsaw could cut anyway. The blood was already splattered over everything. Haruhi's living room looked like a scene from a nightmare.

By now, more zombies had come into the room... and still, an endless crowd marched stupidly toward the door. Better pick up the pace...

Stepping forward, I again swung the chainsaw in a wide semicircle. I was rewarded with a severed head. The blood sprayed upward like a morbid fountain that was quickly running out of pressure. I caught another one on the forehead in the same swing, giving it a lobotomy. The zombie seemed unaffected by this... I wonder why? I thought you just needed to destroy the head in order to 'kill' them...

The banging outside stopped momentarily before starting up again. This time, I could hear a hollow sounding 'thunk' moments before the explosion occurred. Nagato had switched to the RPG. The crowd showed little evidence of thinning out.

There were now around 20 zombies struggling around in the room, and I noticed uncomfortably that they were now banging on the windows.

Ugh... The living room is lost... Nothing to do about it but make a stand at the stairs... We can't keep this up, Nagato...

I ran up the stairs as quickly as I could, pulling out the revolver as I went. At the top, I turned around, set the chainsaw against the wall, and took aim down the stairs.

They were pursuing me single-mindedly... already on the stairs, but not even half way yet.

I fired a round at the leading one- missing it entirely, but hitting the one behind it in the neck. The stricken zombies' moan was now accompanied by a grotesque whistle as it tried to breath with the gaping hole in it's trachea. I fired a second time, successfully blowing the brains out of my targets' head. Despite this small victory, they were now halfway up the steps.

Giving up on the gun, I re-pocketed it and picked up the chainsaw again. Still warm from it's previous use, it started easily.

I again wielded it like a spear, jabbing the chainsaw toward the zombies trying to keep them away. I kept this up for several minutes, feeling somewhat secure.

Wow, this is kind of easy now that I have the high ground... I bet I could keep this up all day!

The chainsaw sputtered and gave out. No more gas.

I stared dumbly at it for a second.

No way... you have got to be _kidding_ me... The zombies are right on top of me! The gun isn't going to cut it this time!

"Nagato! Help!"

I felt a clammy, rough hand grab my ankle. I fell over on my side, and began kicking my foot in a panicked frenzy. Another zombie climbed over the one who had a hold on me. In just a few seconds, they would be standing over me-

"_Nagato! Oh my god! Please help me!_"

Oh my god, this is it! I'm about to be eaten alive by zombies! I hope I die quickly, I don't think I can keep it together while they pull my intestines out of my gutsohpleasenagatoidontwanttodietheresissomuchiwantotdobuticantbecauseimgoingtodierighthereinharuhishouseimgoingtodieandimnevergoingtofindoutwhatitwasissawinyoureyesohgodohnoohnoohnohnohno-

A loud repeating noise, echoing in the hallway. What is it? I can't tell. The grip on my ankle is gone now. I wonder what it was in the first place... a zombie right? That's right. I'm about to die and there is nothing I can do about it- an even louder noise from downstairs now- bangbangbang hahaha...it sounds familiar. It's really loud! Must be a wild party downstairs! Do zombies throw parties? I think that would be interesting to watch-

There's something on my face now... Hands? They're warm.

"Kyon."

I can feel them on my temples now... I... who...

"Nagato?"

"Kyon. You were having a panic attack."

"But I'm dying-"

"You are not. I told you that you would not come to harm."

"I... Yeah... that's right. Thanks, Nagato..."

"...It is as you said, Kyon. I will not leave you."

I smiled. A guy could lose his mind over a girl like her-

Er...woah.

Moving on. Zombies.

"But what about the zombies? Don't we need to move?"

"Yes. Now. The grenade I used will not keep the ones outside from coming in. Can you move?"

I nodded. I'm a bit shaky... but I'm fine I guess.

"Nagato, is the gas in Haruhi's room? I want to refill the chainsaw."

"Yes. Follow me."

I got up and grabbed the chainsaw, following her into the room. She was carrying the machine gun in one hand. I guess that's what that 'loud repeating noise' was...

While I stepped into the room, I unscrewed the gas-cap on the chain-saw. Before continuing, I turned around and locked the door. I picked up one of the gallon jugs and poured it in, careful not to spill any on Haruhi's carpet...Actually... I guess making a mess really doesn't matter...

I could hear more moaning from downstairs. They were in the house again. I screwed the gas-cap back on.

"Alright... We need to get out of here... standing here killing zombies all day isn't going to get us anywhere."

Nagato nodded in agreement.

I looked out the window and noticed that now the street was a little more sparsely populated with zombies... maybe enough to actually get through...

"We'll take the window. After we jump, we'll make a dash over to Taniguchi and Kunikida and get them out of there."

"We cannot take them back to the campsite."

"Ah...yeah. You're right... We'll make a stop at Tsuruya's place... We'll drop them off there and head back as soon as we can."

Again, Nagato nodded.

Banging from outside Haruhis' door. Time to go.

"You go first, Nagato. You can keep them at bay while I recover from the fall.

"Understood."

She slung the machine gun over her back again and picked up an ammo belt for the machine gun, slinging it over her shoulder. With one of her inhumanly fast incantations, the rifle and the rest of the ammo disappeared.

She grabbed the sledgehammer and the axe and jumped out the window without hesitation.

I ran over and looked down to see where she had landed.

As soon as she touched the ground she wielded the sledgehammer with one hand, bringing it around it a low circle. The legs of several zombies were broken in the initial swing, but she didn't stop there. The axe, which she wielded with her other hand, sliced through zombie-flesh with merciless ferocity. Nagato, who was previously immaculate, was now as badly soiled with gore as I was.

Only Nagato could make using a sledgehammer and an axe as weapons look like art, even if it was the messy, paint-throwing kind.

I jumped down to join her, stumbling, but not falling over. I immediately made a dash across the street, with Nagato following.

"Taniguchi! Kunikida! Get out of there!

The door slammed open and there they were, looking not so much terrified, but awestruck.

"What the hell are you two doing here!? Weren't you going camping?"

Taniguchi struggled with his words, trying to articulate his excuse.

"W-we came back to rescue other survivors from the city! (Oh, the irony...you idiot...) Why are _you_ here Kyon? And how did you get those guns!?"

Ugh... No time for this...

Nagato cut the questioning short: "Taniguchi. Kunkida. Follow us."

She ran down the street without a moments pause. I followed after her, sprinting to catch up. Shortly thereafter, Taniguchi and Kunikida joined us.

"Alright you guys... we're taking you to Tsuruyas' place. You should be safe there."

"Tsuruya? Why is it safe there?"

"Tsuruyas' family recognized the signs and were prepared... My mom and sister are there right now."

"Alright... It's not like we could have stayed in the woods forever, anyway..."

Kunikida, still awestruck, spoke for the first time.

"Wow, you and Nagato were amazing over there... I didn't know either of you could fight like that!"

Well... it's not like I was really skillful... I just swung around a chainsaw. Oh, and I'm a lousy shot with a gun. Nagato however...

"Uh... thanks... "

"Do you know your way there, Kyon?"

"Yeah... We'll be there in a few minutes if we keep up this pace."

...That was too close. If it weren't for Nagato... I would have been a goner. I don't know what I'd do without her. Oh yeah, I already answered that. What would I do without her? Be dead. That's what I'd do...and now I have to talk to Mom... This is going to go well, I'm sure...

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Successfully losing the throng of zombies, we arrived at Tsuruya Manors' front gate. We slowed as we approached, not wanting to give the armed guard a start. Who knows what kind of state he is in, after all of this?

The guard looked up at us dully, and then back at the ground. He muttered something under his breath, but made no other indication that he saw us.

"Hey... uh... we kind of need to speak to Tsuruya... Can you let us in?"

The guard just shook his head and muttered one word: "Zombies...I can't let any zombies in..."

"Umm... we aren't zombies. Look at us."

Again, he shook his head, but instead of saying anything, he just broke down and started to cry.

...This is horrible. I wonder... if the world were stuck like this... how long would we last? This man is clearly at the edge... How many more are in the same state as him right now? It seems that the biggest threat to this man is himself: not the zombies. Such a shame...

My somber thoughts were broken by an unnaturally cheery voice.

"Haha! I knew you wouldn't side with the zombies, nyoro!"

The shock of hearing her voice wore off after a few moments. How can she be this relentlessly upbeat, even _now_?

"Uh, hey Tsuruya... Do you think you could let us in?"

"Yep!"

She ran over to where the guard was sitting and hit a button on the nearby wall. The gate creaked open, and we quickly made our way inside. The gate creaked shut behind us.

"Thanks... Tsuruya... are they okay?"

She nodded vigorously.

"They showed up a few hours ago. They were megas-upset, nyoro!"

Good... That's good...

"Hey... Tsuruya? Can you guys take in Taniguchi and Kunikida? Nagato and I... have some business to take care of."

Alarmed, Taniguchi turned sharply to me: "What! You're going back out there? What for? This... it's suicide!"

Kunikida agreed readily: "Yeah, Kyon. Whatever business it is, it can't be as important as you survival. Those guns of yours will run out of ammo eventually."

"It's Haruhi, Asahina, and Koizumi. We have to go back for them..."

That was a bad lie. Taniguchi and Kunikida both knew that we went camping-as far as he knows, there was no reason to be at Haruhis' house. Regardless, they ceased their questioning.

Tsuruya started the conversation up again: "So, where did you get those guns, nyoro? Did you buy them on the black market or something?"

"Well, uh..."

"Yes."

It was always strange when Nagato saved me the trouble of answering these questions... It was nearly always followed by an awkward pause. This time however, Tsuruya just burst out laughing.

"I uh... can we get a shower before we head out, Tsuruya?"

"Yeah, we've managed to keep the plumbing running, nyoro. I'll lead you there!"

Before we could go, however, my mom came bursting out the front door.

"Kyon! Oh my god, look at you! Are you hurt! Please tell me you aren't hurt!"

Mom...

I guess I look sort of bad right now, covered in gore like this... I bet she's terrified for me right now...

She crossed the distance, followed by my sister in just a few short seconds. I tossed the chainsaw aside and embraced her.

"Oh... Kyon... You scared me so much!"

Sis wrapped her arms around the both of us, not able to form words through the tears. For a minute, I just let them get out their relief.

Truth be told... I sort of need this right now too...

"Mom... I'm fine... I'm sorry I worried you so much."

"What have you been _doing_? Look at you! All this blood... Did one of them bite you? Oh... Kyon!"

"I ensured that Kyon did not come to harm."

Nagato... That was an odd place for her to speak... Almost like she was looking for approval..

Mom turned to Nagato and smiled.

"Thank you... are you... Nagato, by any chance?"

She nodded. Mom smiled even more widely.

"You have a good friend, Kyon."

"Yeah... I know."

"What were you doing anyway?"

Getting a camera?

"We were going to go rescue the other members of my club... We still have to go back."

Taniguchi looked at me strangely. I knew what he was thinking: 'What were you doing over at that house, anyway?'

My sister, who had previously been crying for the last few minutes, spoke up: "No! Kyon can't go!"

Mom nodded in agreement.

"Your sister is right. I forbid it. You will _not _go."

...I was afraid of this. It's just going to make things that much harder.

"Mom... we can talk in a few minutes. Right now, Nagato and I need a shower."

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Nagato and I both got cleaned up before we ended up meeting with mom and sis in the study. Nagato beat me there by a while, it seems. I took my time, and I can't imagine Nagato taking any longer than absolutely necessary. She was already well into a book she found on one of the shelves. This one was Pet Semetary.

I decided to dive right into it for once.

"We need to go, Mom. We can't just leave them out there."

"There will be no argument Kyon, you will not go."

"But they-"

"No."

I wasn't sure what to say. As bad as it sounds, I intended to go, with or without her blessing. It's just... I'd prefer to not to add to her grief by leaving against her wishes.

The sound of a book clapping shut. Nagato stood up and made her way to the door.

"Where are you going, Nagato?"

"I am going to go retrieve our fellow club members."

Nagato...what are you...oh, I see...

"But Nagato, I can't let you go alone! What if you get attacked by zombies along the way?"

She said nothing and continued out the door.

"Mom-"

"Go... Keep her safe Kyon..."

I nodded and once again embraced her. I feel so terrible for lying... But it must be done.

"Thank you, Mom."

"You better hurry, Kyon... It would be a shame if she... slipped away from you."

Huh? What does that mean? Whatever...

I disengaged my arms and went outside the door. Nagato was waiting for me.

"...That was sneaky, Nagato."

She said nothing as we made our way to the front door. We said our goodbyes to everyone, grabbed out equipment, and left through the front gate. After we walked a short distance, I brought up a new concern to Nagato.

"We've spent a lot time here...can you teleport us most of the way back so that Haruhi doesn't get suspicious? We should be getting back there soon..."

Nagato nodded and spoke one of her incantations. In an instant, we were in the woods outside of town again.

I noticed that the guns were gone, and that the chainsaw, the sledgehammer, and the axe were all completely free of gore. Convenient...

"Hey, Nagato? I almost forgot, I need to cut some wood. Can we stop here for a second?"

She just sat down on a nearby log and opened up Pet Semetary. I wonder, did she even ask if she could take that?

I turned on the chainsaw and started cutting off the branch of a nearby tree. I didn't really feel safe cutting down a whole tree, so this would have to do. I decided to start up a conversation with Nagato.

"So...I was curious... I cut a zombies' forehead earlier... but it didn't even faze him... Do you know why that was?"

"R-complex."

"...R-complex?"

"The zombies' neurological functions all occur on the instinctual level. In the R-complex."

"Okay... I understand...I guess..."

Well that was short lived...Let's try something else.

"How are you feeling right now, Nagato?"

"...Apprehensive."

"Really?"

"Yes."

I finished cutting the wood we would need, so I gathered it all in hand and stood in front of Nagato and waited.

Wait... something's wrong here...Isn't she the one usually waiting for me?

"Nagato...is something wrong?"

Nothing.

"Nagato?"

"Let's go."

"Yeah..."

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The rest of the day passed without incident. We cooked food over a campfire, we went hunting for Bigfoot, (We didn't see anything, but Haruhi _swore_ she caught something on her camera. She probably did.) and we went back and forth with our usual friendly, but slightly insane prattle.

It was kind of nice, actually... This morning seemed to last forever, and the rest of the day flew by quickly.

When I found myself in my sleeping bag, my thoughts caught up with me. What do I do about Haruhi? The zombies? What about Nagato? There is something that I'm missing there, I just can't quite grasp it...

Man, this is too much... One day. That's all I've got...I can only hope I run into a solution sometime tomorrow... Right now... I'm just too tired...

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Well, well... This story has turned out to be something remarkably different from what I originally set out to do. The tone has gotten decidedly more serious since the first chapter, and I think that it suitably fits the changing mood. Also... I never intended for this to be a KyonxYuki piece, but it's just so damn hard to keep them apart...They're such a cute couple... I was nervous while I was writing this chapter- I was worried that I might screw up my characterizations that I have been so diligently trying to maintain since the beginning.

I think I'll be able to work it out, though. I think I can handle Kyon and Yuki appropriately, and I know _exactly_ how everything is going to wrap up. 2 more chapters. The next one is going to be fairly short in comparison to some of my previous chapters, especially this one. This one took me almost all day.

You'll just have to wait and see how it turns out. Please continue with the great reviews! Now, I'm tired. Really tired. 1:58 A.M. tired. Good night...


	6. Chapter 6

Here's chapter 6...

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Sleep came slowly and did not last long. When I awoke, it was still dark outside. The sun had not even begun to show it's first rays.

...What time is it? My watch says... 3:58... When was the last time I got up at four in the morning? Oh... yeah...yesterday. Is it really possible that not even 24 hours have passed since we set out on this little camping trip?

I settled back into my sleeping bag and tried to get back to sleep, but it was no good. I got up slowly and tried to make it to the tent flap before I woke anybody up.

A whispered voice from the other sleeping bag: "Where are you off to at such an indecent hour, Kyon?"

Damn...

"...I don't know. I can't sleep, so I'm going to go for a walk."

"Need some time to think?"

"Yeah. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Don't we all, Kyon... Good luck."

I unzipped the flap quietly and stood outside the tent in the cold, morning air.

Not knowing where I should go, I picked a random direction and walked, keeping in mind the position of the moon, so as not to get lost. I maneuvered through the trees as carefully as I could, but I still stumbled over a root every now and then. It's dark, after all.

I tried to think about what to do, but no matter how I thought about it, I kept coming back to the same conclusion. Use reason to explain to her why zombies don't exist. And so, I gave up. For now at least. I mean, the solution always ends up coming to me eventually. We aren't meant to fail, right?

Right?

I cleared my mind and continued. Eventually, I found myself in a clearing. It was much larger than the one we had set our tent up at, and this one had a nice little hill sitting right at its center.

The moonlight cast an ethereal glow upon the scene, accenting the grass, the trees, and the lonely looking figure who stood in the middle of it all.

Nagato Yuki.

She was breathtaking. The lunar glow had played upon her features just right, making the scene into an artistic vision of... heaven.

"It's... really beautiful."

"Yes."

"You couldn't sleep?"

"I did not need too."

"Why not read?"

"I have acquired some data that I have been having difficulty assimilating. I am attempting to rectify this."

"You're just trying to sort out your thoughts?"

"...Yes."

I walked over slowly and took a seat on the ground next to her.

"Take a seat?"

"...Very well."

We stayed like that for a while in comfortable silence.

"So... is it about Haruhi?"

"No. I have given up on finding a solution until more data becomes available. I have calculated the outcome of all possible scenarios, given the data at hand. None have a favorable outcome."

"Then you're just waiting to see what happens?"

"Yes."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

She did not answer. Again, we relapsed into silence.

"So...what exactly will happen if Haruhi finds out?"

"...The probability of the world returning to its previous state would be near 0."

Silence again.

"Nagato... whatever it is, I'll help you in any way I can."

Nothing. I'm worried... I've never seen her so... upset over something. At least... I think she's upset...

"Kyon."

I turned to her and looked into her eyes. Again... I saw that 'something'. I still can't quite identify it... Something is there, just below the surface...

"...Can you identify this emotion? A desire to protect someone, even at great personal cost... A need to know this person...to...understand him...and a yearning to be in his presence, even when it is not necessary?"

...Yeah... I think I know what that emotion is... I know it well. I've been feeling like that for a while... and I am feeling that way now. I think I might know what her eyes were trying to tell me...

"...That sounds like...love...Yuki."

She blinked and continued to stare at me. Those eyes... Oh god, those _eyes_...

I understand now. I understand completely.

Suddenly feeling certain of what I have to do, I reached up and cupped the side of her face... the skin beneath my hand was warming up... I saw that her cheeks had subtly tinged a very faint pink... Almost unnoticeable.

I leaned in slowly, pressing my lips against hers in what was one of the most meaningful moments of my life. It did not take her long to respond and kiss back. It was not fiery... there was no tongue... it was gentle...perfect. This was definitely going to be one of those memories I look back on when I'm old and gray...

We broke the kiss slowly and leaned against each other in comfortable, fulfilled silence.

"...Kyon. I...love you."

That was one of the few times I ever heard her sound so completely unsure. This was very unfamiliar territory for her. It was for me too.

"I love you too, Yuki."

We remained like that for some time. How long I'm not sure, but eventually the suns' rays broke through the canopy, dispersing the soft moonlight that had previously pervaded it.

"How are you feeling?"

"My body is producing endorphins, as well as a variety of other chemicals, at an accelerated rate."

Wha- endorphins...

I laughed, I couldn't help it. It felt good to laugh like that... it had been so long since the last time...

"What is so amusing...?"

"Haha...Nothing. It's just...that...that's so very..._you_."

"...I see."

"Yuki...is this...allowed? Will the Thought Entity permit this? Will Haruhi?"

"The Data Integration Thought Entity will not find issue in our relationship. I am still doing the task that I was appointed to do. I do not know how Haruhi will react."

"I hope she understands."

"...Yes."

"We need to go back now...I'd like to get back before everyone wakes up."

Yuki nodded and stood up. I got to my feet slowly... My knees hurt a little bit from sitting there for so long. Side by side, we made our way back to the campsite.

I can't believe that just happened... I wasn't even thinking about Yuki that way yesterday...

Now if only we can protect what we have gained...

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When we got back to the campsite, Haruhi was waiting for us.

She sat on a low tree-stump, her face drawn taught in anger. I didn't ask why. I already knew.

"So, Kyon... Yuki... where have you been? Getting 'wood'?"

Ouch. It's hard to come up with a good answer to something like that...

"Err...no..."

"Why of course... how could you cut would without a chainsaw... silly me."

"Haruhi... you and I both know what it is you are insinuating. No. We did not do anything that you may have in mind right now."

"What may I have in mind Kyon?"

"Haruhi..."

"Yuki. What were you two doing?"

Yuki said nothing. She just stared. I answered for her.

"We talked for a while. And... we kissed."

"I didn't ask you Kyon! Yuki... is that true?"

She still said nothing, but she nodded in affirmation.

For about half a minute, nobody said anything.

"Kyon...Yuki... this had better not cut in on any of our club activities...Is that understood?"

We both nodded.

"Now, Kyon... set up the campfire and prepare breakfast. I'm going back into the tent for a bit."

I did as she said and grabbed some wood from the pile I made yesterday.

"...That could have gone a lot worse."

"Closed space."

Damn it... It can never be easy...

"Why is she allowing this then?"

"...She may believe that she cannot do anything to change the situation, so she decided to minimize its effects."

"I guess all we can do is wait..."

"...Yes."

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So we waited. The morning went by without incident, though Haruhi was clearly in a foul mood. Koizumi confirmed what Yuki had said- there was indeed closed space, and it was expanding rapidly. Apparently, it was bad enough that if he could find a reasonable excuse to get away, he would go help his comrades. However, being in the woods as we are... He could not come up with such an excuse. He was clearly irritated at us for doing something so 'reckless'.

Much to Haruhis' chagrin, Asahina-san congratulated Yuki and myself. She said she thought we'd make a 'cute couple'. I was grateful for her approval... but she's not the one we needed to be worried about.

As the day progressed into the afternoon, Haruhis' mood did not improve. She mostly avoided Yuki and I, only coming near us when she needed to. The day proceed like this until around 4:00, when Haruhi decided it was time to go home- she had grown bored.

When she said it, I wan't sure what to do- the whole day had passed, and still there was no solution. Here we were, standing in front of Haruhi as she told us we were going back. Time is up.

Not knowing what to do, I made a feeble attempt at persuading her.

"Uh... Haruhi...Zombies cannot exist because... well...I can understand aliens, time travelers and espers...maybe...but when people die, that's it. There is no-"

"Shut up, Kyon. Grab your things and get ready to go."

I looked around me. Itsuki, for once, wasn't wearing a smile. His expression was somewhere in between anger and disappointment. Asahina-san looked like she was going to cry. Yuki just met my eyes. Acceptance. She had given up hope.

Ha...That's it then. Haruhi won't even hear me out, and I can't think of anything else that could possibly work. It's all over...we lost.

Numbly, I made my way over to the tent, not really paying attention to my surroundings. The flap was open.

I wonder what it's going to be like? How will Haruhi react, seeing the zombies? She'll know what the chainsaw and everything else was for, naturally...She'll know that we lied to her about it too. I suppose we'll have to fight them again... but what would it matter? At best, the world would remain the way it is until it dies. At worst, the world would end right there... Actually, I'm not sure which of those is the worst case scenario... Either way, we're-

What happened next was so unexpected, that for a few moments I thought I was dreaming. Not paying attention, I tripped on the tent as I stepped inside, spinning in a vain attempt to catch myself.

When I hit the floor, all coherent thought was swept from my mind. The pain was incredible- It was so bad, that I couldn't even scream.

I heard voices from outside the tent. Loud ones... and footsteps. They were coming fast... The haze of pain finally broke enough that I could scream, and scream I did.

What's going on? There's something wet on my back... a lot of it. Something hard too... Am I laying on something?

I heard the voices

They weren't really understandable. They were jumbled together so much that even if I wasn't hurt, (how the hell am I hurt!?) I still wouldn't be able to understand them. I could make out who they belong to, though. Asahina-san. Koizumi. Haruhi.

I could not hear Yukis' voice, but I knew she was there. I could feel her hands.

My vision is getting dark now... It's like a tunnel... Just like I always heard it would be...

What is 'it'?

Death? Is 'it' death?

I can see her on the other side of the tunnel... I... Her eyes...

"Y-"

Darker now... almost gone...

"Yuk...i..."

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Oh my god! What happened! Speak to me, Kyon!

One more to go, folks... you'll have to see what's up in the next chapter.

Now... about THIS chapter. It's not particularly long, but it took me longer than any of the other ones to produce. I wanted to make sure I got Kyon and Yuki just right... The 'confession' scene is important, and I wanted to make sure that my characterizations were alright. I'm still not sure if it's okay... I would really appreciate input on this particularly...As always, please review.

I've had this climax, or a variant of it, in mind since the first chapter, and it took me some time to find out how exactly I wanted to do it. You may not understand what has happened right at the very end now... but I promise there are no loose ends. You will find out next chapter. You can expect that one sometime within the week. Classes start for me again tomorrow.

Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

And here it is... the final chapter...

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"Wha-where..."

From above, I could see nothing but white. The light from above seemed to cover everything... I had never seen so much white in my life. It made my eyes hurt.

Is this... heaven? I'm dead, right? I wonder if everyone feels this way when they die... It's sort of comfortable. Like being on a cloud, I guess. Not that I'd know what being on a cloud is like...

It's really itchy...that's unexpected...I never associated 'heaven' with 'itchy'. But what is it? A...bandage?

Finally, my eyes adjusted to the brightness, and I took in my surroundings.

I was in a bed. A hospital bed. Around my waste was a wide, thick bandage...

"Kyon."

Yuki...

"...How are you feeling?"

"...Drugged. What happened?"

"You tripped in the tent and fell on the axe. It was buried deep into your lower back, severing a major artery and damaging your intestines. We brought you to the hospital."

"Wait, the hospital!? The zombies! Has Haruhi seen them!?"

"...No."

"...What?"

"The zombies... are gone."

"How..."

"I do not know."

The door opened slowly, and in walked a doctor, clad in white.

"Ah, I see you're awake. You are very lucky. Considering how long your injuries went unattended... you should have been a hopeless case... I'm told your friend here carried you the whole way."

"Yuki..."

She said nothing.

"Your recovery has been remarkably quick... we'll hold you overnight for observation, but you should be able to go tomorrow."

"How long have I been out?"

"Only a day. We kept you in a drug induced sleep in order to treat your injuries."

"Ah... I see."

"You appear to be okay...you have some other visitors in the waiting room. I'll go tell them they can come in."

"Why was Yuki allowed in?..."

"...She wouldn't leave."

Still, she said nothing.

"I'll be back later to check on you. Your friends will be here shortly."

He left the room quietly, easing the door shut so as not to let it slam.

"Yuki...You kept me alive while you carried me back, didn't you?"

"...Yes."

"I...Yuki..."

She walked over slowly and put her hand on my cheek. The heat radiating from it was... comforting.

"It is fine."

She leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my cheek.

Haruhi barged into the room, slamming the door against the wall as she did. Her expression was angry...but more worried than anything. She seemed to ignore my tender moment with Yuki.

"Dammit Kyon! Don't you ever do something like that again!"

"...I didn't try to get stabbed, Haruhi..."

"Shut up! You...do you have...god-_dammit_ Kyon!

She was really upset... the worst I've ever seen her. I guess she's forgotten about why she was so angry with me in the first place.

"...If...if Yuki hadn't been so fast...Kyon...You would have _died_! That's... that's unacceptable!"

She was on the verge of tears now.

"You...you wouldn't be able to come to any more of our club meetings! As chief of the SOS brigade...that would be...that...Oh, Kyon!"

She flung herself on the side of the bed and cried, long and hard.

"Oh Kyon... if you had died... I'd never see you again!"

"Ah...H-Haruhi..."

After a while, she stopped. That was it I suppose... she realized that if I died, I wouldn't be coming back. The dead stay that way... not even a genetically engineered super-virus can change that.

It's nice to know she cares...

Slowly, she stood up and looked me in the eyes.

"Kyon...You and Yuki are together now, right?"

Surprised at this, I merely nodded.

"...I saw Yuki holding you as you blacked out back at the campsite..."

Wait...she held me?

"...You two really care about each other, don't you?"

"Y-yeah... We do."

No response from Yuki- I knew she agreed though.

"...Don't you dare hurt her, Kyon."

"I won't."

"Good. Because if you did, it would be the death penalty."

"I...understand."

Again, the door opened, this time without slamming into the wall.

In came Asahina-san and Koizumi. Asahina-san was bawling, not making sense...Koizumi just wore that stupid bastard-grin on his face.

"Ah, it's good to see you awake Kyon. You gave us quite the scare back there."

"Well... I gave me 'quite the scare' back there too."

"Hahaha...I'm sure. Perhaps you shouldn't leave your toys laying around?"

"Shut up..."

Asahina-san was now crying on the very same spot that Haruhi was just a few minutes ago. I wonder if she noticed the dampness...

"It's okay, Asahina-san! I'm alright!"

"Kyon! You almost died! Wahhhh!"

Jeez... still adorable. Must...remain...faithful...

Haruhi interupted Asahina-sans' scene: "Okay everyone...let's leave them alone for a bit. We'll be back later Kyon. You had better not have a relapse!"

Don't worry Haruhi... I don't plan on getting chopped by any more axes for a while.

Haruhi, Asahina-san, and Koizumi all filed out of the room, leaving Yuki and myself.

"It appears that upon her revelation concerning your mortality, Haruhi changed the world outside of our campsite back into what she expected to find when she got back."

"So...she no longer believes in zombies..."

"She does not."

"Everyone thinks we just had a regular old camping trip then..."

"Yes."

"...What a relief...It's nice... everything is back to normal...I have all my friends..."

"Yes."

"And I have you..."

"...Yes."

"Yuki. Be with me always..."

"Understood."

"That wasn't a command Yuki...It was a request."

"Understood. I will comply."

I shook my head in exasperation... Sometimes...

"I love you Yuki..."

"I love you too, Kyon."

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Shortly afterward, Mom and sis came in and doted over me... I'm told that they were in here earlier, but Mom had to leave at some point to pick up Sis' schoolwork after my condition was stable. It didn't take Mom long to find out about me and Yuki. She said she was proud.

As the doctor said, I was discharged from the hospital the following day, feeling totally fine. Yuki probably sped up the recovery process with her data manipulation...but I like to think that even if she didn't use it, her presence would have helped anyway...

I was happy to see that everyone was okay at school. Taniguchi and Kunikida don't remember anything unusual from these past few days. They joked on me and Yuki...until I mentioned that we actually _are_ together now. His good-humored kidding was replaced with shocked disbelief.

Tsuruya-san had no memory of me asking her to take in Mom and sis...I'm not surprised... Mom didn't mention anything about it either.

The SOS Brigade meeting went the same way it always did... There were no movies about zombies, or anything else for that matter. I played a game of 'Day of Sagitarius III' against Yuki...and of course, she thrashed me with minimal effort.

At the end of the day, I lay down in my bed contently... happy with the way things turned out. Out of all the changes brought about by the zombies, the only thing that remained was Yuki and I...

I suppose that it wasn't so bad. I... liked actually doing something for once, even if Yuki still ended up rescuing me again...

It's hard to believe that after that harrowing experience that it isn't all over...Something like this 'zombie inccident' could happen any day with that crazy girl...

I guess I don't really mind these things anymore though...Must be Haruhis' influence.

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And here we are. THE END. It's been fun, everybody! Thank you so much for all the positive input...It's been a great ride.

Expect to see me writing again sometime. It may not be for a while... but I think the next story I write is going to be for Elfen Lied. A friend got me hooked on it the other night, you see.

Who knows? I may write a sequel of sorts. Not a true sequel, because I'm putting the whole 'zombie' thing to bed now, but a new situation for Kyon and everybody's favorite computer-girl following this story. Let me know what you'd think of that in your reviews.

Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Authors note: What the- I thought this story was over!

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"Okay everyone...let's leave them alone for a bit. We'll be back later Kyon. You had better not have a relapse!"

Kyon didn't say anything in response. Haruhi left the room, followed immediately by Asahina and Koizumi.

When the door closed, nobody said anything. There was nothing that needed to be said. Haruhi broke the silence.

"Well... I'll see you two tomorrow at the brigade meeting."

Koizumi nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I look forward to it. Bye, Suzumiya-san. Asahina-san."

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Mikuru? Everything turned out allright. Tomorrow, everything will be back to normal! Well... almost everything, I guess."

"O-okay. As long as you're sure. Bye!"

Haruhi watched Koizumi and Asahina dissapear around the corner, heading toward the elevators.

When they were gone, Haruhi turned back to look at Kyon's room.

The hallway was silent- silent enough for one to hear their own thoughts echoing throughout the passageway. That trademark hospital smell permeated the air.

For almost 10 minutes she stood there. The sound of foot-steps could be heard coming from the elevators, shaking her out of her trance-like state. Panicking, Haruhi quickly hid herself behind a nearby laundry hamper. She heard whispering- it sounded like a young girl and an older woman; probably Kyon's mom and sister. The door to Kyon's room opened, and then closed. They were no longer whispering- but the sound was muffled by the door.

Haruhi stood up slowly.

"...Why did I do that?"

No answer was forthcoming. The hall maintained its silence.

"I..."

The single word echoed back, seemingly mocking her.

"Before... it was just a dream... Right, Kyon?"

"...Right?"

Haruhi slowly made her way toward the stairs, picking up speed as she went.

By the time she reached the main entrance, she was running as fast as her legs could carry her.

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Well. What you just read was a preview, my friends. A preview for a sequal. One that I will start on within the next week or two. I've got the whole story mapped out in my head- problem is, I don't have a title yet.

As you can gather by this preview, this next story is going to be a continuation of this one. No zombies this time though. This one is going to have it's happy moments, it's tense moments, and it's depressing moments. That being said, it's still a romance, and it's still going to be done from Kyon's perspective, _maybe_ switching to Yuki's at some points. I don't want to reveal to much- expect some twists and turns that will knock everybody's happy little world on it's head.

There isn't much to review here, but go ahead and leave one anyway. Tell me what you think. Am I crazy for continuing this story? Do you think this is going to be great? I'd like to know, especially after going so long without writing. I expect to hear from you soon:)

Edit: For clarification, this scene takes place immediately after Haruhi leaves Kyon's room in chapter 7. It is not a segment of a chapter from the sequal.


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